


there was a time

by Morning66



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Angst, Family, Gen, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:42:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24724726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morning66/pseuds/Morning66
Summary: Biana likes to believe there was a time when everything was perfect.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	there was a time

**Author's Note:**

> This is really short, sorry! Hope you like it anyway.

Biana likes to believe there was a time when everything was perfect. 

She recites that narrative late at night when she should be asleep, when it seems Sophie’s insomnia has spread to her. Tracing the thin lines that now cover her arm with a gentle finger, Biana tells herself the story of how things used to be, just like how her mother once read her fairy tails at night out of an ancient book.

There was a time when her family was perfect, a shining beacon to all in the equally shining elf world. They were revered, they were respected, they were loved. Everyone wanted to either be them or be friends with them. Now, there are only whispers and rumors, a legacy ruined by secrets and lies.

There was a time when her father was whole and strong, a time when in her eyes he was unbreakable and she could say anything to him and he could take it. Once he was held together by more than just the work of an experiment, a genetically modified little girl.

There was a time when her mother never had to wear makeup to cover puffy eyes, red from tears and dark bags. There was a time when she never cried at night, when her husband was always there for her and her children always kind and sweet. She would never dream of running off to join a rebel group back then.

There was a time when Alvar was kind and funny, the kind of older brother everyone wanted. A time when he used to grab her and throw her in the air, grin wide across his face. They used to tease Fitz together, watch his face turn red and his voice become flustered, laughing the entire time.

There was a time when Fitz was happy, when anger didn’t consume him, just waiting to come out at anything nearby. When he used to look up to Alvar with the glowing eyes of a younger sibling, never once thinking of violence or death. He and Keefe used to be best friends, the kind that were always together, always laughing and supportive. She’s not even sure they’re friends anymore.

There was a time when Biana believed in the infallibility of her world, of the council and nobility and those around her. Once, she saw only good, only kindness and success. There were no scars, only treatable injuries from playing bramble in the yard with Fitz and Keefe.

This is what she tells herself to keep away the creeping darkness.

One night, when Biana’s almost dozed off, she realizes that her fundamental assumption isn’t true. Her family, her world has never been perfect.

Her father was always balancing on a knife’s edge, just waiting to fall and shatter into a million pieces. Alvar had been working for the Neverseen for almost as long as she’s been alive, almost as long as she’s known him. Fitz and Keefe were a friendship ready to be shattered as soon as a pretty, powerful girl came along.

And her world? It hasn’t been perfect in millennia. She was just too young to see the cracks that have now swallowed all of them whole, engulfed them in so many problems sometimes she’s not sure how any of them can breathe.

Biana never falls asleep that night.


End file.
